If you own a new computer, chances are that your proceesor chipset includes a GPU. Analyst firm IHS iSuppli looked into the matter and discovered that almost half of all 2011 processors will include a GPU. AMD and Intel are both leading this trend.
According to iSuppli, by 2014, more than half of all computers will have a GPU in their chipset.
Via X Bit Labs
AMD has taken the backseat to Intel for years, but now the company is fighting back with a new line of chipsets. AMD is releasing a new line called Bulldozer to compete with the previously troubled Intel Sandy Bridge chipset.
AMD’s hope this round seems to largely rely on Intel’s Sandy Bridge launch issues. The company claims that the new chipsets will offer faster speeds than Sandy Bridge. The cores will be overclocked to the maximum limit that is safe for the processors. AMD is designing the Bulldozer processors for high end desktops at this point. No word on if it will crossover into other processors for other electronics.
Samsung is getting ready to release a 4TB hard drive. The company just debuted the prototype for the upcoming drive, called the Spinpoint EcoGreen F6 4TB, which is slated for a release this year.
The Samsung Spinpoint EcoGreen F6 4TB hard drive will be the biggest hard disk on the market. The current largest is a 2.2.TB , which is still uncommon for most PCs being sold.
Via Hot Hardware
Webb worked as the network services manager for the St. Paul Employees Postal Credit Union in Minnesota. Authorities say the credit union ordered parts from Cisco, but Webb would say the parts were faulty. Cisco then sent new products and asked Webb to send back the defective ones.
But instead, Webb would sell the brand new parts he received from Cisco, order cheap, beat-up products online to send back to Cisco, and keep all parts in his workplace in tact.
Webb reportedly sent back a total of 42 expensive computer components that he fraudulently represented as faulty office products. His criminal sentencing is the result of a plea deal he reached with prosecutors.
Via Star Tribune
Intel is just a chip maker, but the company is uniquely positioned to influence computer manufacturers. Recently, the company has been reported trying to standardize components for the all-in-one PCs. Intel is working with Elitegroup Computer Systems, MSI, and Mitac International in order to start making all-in-one PCs a standard.
While some of the big PC manufactures have built all-in-one PCs before,they haven’t sold as well as their desktop counterparts. In spite, of Intel’s wishes, tablets really appear to be the wave of the future. Tablets, after all, tend to be cheaper and more portable. Perhaps Intel should shift the focus in that direction.
Via X Bit Labs
Intel’s Sandy Bridge problems were big news last month. The company appeared to have fixed the issue in a few weeks time, and now Gigabyte is finally shipping out new motherboards. Gigabyte had to cease shipments of the motherboards that used the defective Sandy Bridge chipset.
This is good news for both Intel and Gigabyte. They needed to get those mainboards shipped out as quickly as possible. Since Intel started shipping the new processors out last month, Gigabyte appears to be late. However, Gigabyte likely also had to rebuild the mainboards.
Via Hot Hardware
[photo by Flickr user gillyberlin]
Finally, it looks like someone has managed to pick the perfect hardware upgrade for all the embattled hedge-fund managers out there. Researchers have found that garbage collection methods on SSDs can often make data completely unrecoverable using available forensics techniques. According to an article published by Macworld, garbage collection purged all but a small percentage of 316,666 test files placed on the hard drive by researchers only three minutes after they were deleted. In a standard spinning drive, all of these files were recoverable.
Even after connecting a write blocker, a device designed to stop a hard drive from purging or writing over files, almost 20 percent of the contents of the drive were unrecoverable. According to the article, this is the first time write blockers have been ineffective in preserving the disk for future analysis.
Forensics experts are worried about the potential impact this has for investigating crimes, especially when the growing capacity of USB sticks and other solid-state media may one day lead to similar garbage collection being implemented there. Add that to the fact that it’s difficult or impossible to tell if this data wiping is done intentionally as a way to cover up evidence or if the average user just wanted more space for their Blu-Ray rip of Inception, and you’ve got a bunch of very nervous security professionals.
[via Macworld]
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